I build roll cages

[Chilezen]

This is the machine I use to mark and cut the tubes. A 20'+ tube is loaded in the back, and comes through here on those rollers.



This assembly is known as the head. It goes up and down and left and right, above the tube. Here, a plain ol- Sharpie is marking the location for where a different bar is going to intersect/mate to this bar. A "trolley" in the back is holding the tube. The trolley has a 360° rotating chuck, which holds the tube but spins according to what the computer tells it to. In other words, the tube is spun under the Sharpie, while the Sharpie sits on the tube, held in place by the head. I'll share a video one day.



When the Sharpie is done marking, the plasma torch moves over the tube, and cuts the tube (as the tube spins under it). The computer controls the exact motion of these different parts simultaneously for fast, repeatable results.



And here's how the bars look after being marked & cut. The numbers on some of them are bending information- the values and locations and rotations I will need next to bend them correctly.



This is the bender. It is also computer controlled, but it's awful and I hate using it. I would never recommend it to anyone, but sadly there aren't many alternatives within a reasonable price point. For the cost of it, you wouldn't believe how poorly it performs in regards to accuracy and consistency. Anyway...
It's a pretty simple device. The right side holds the bar and pulls the bar as it rotates. The die on the left is stationary. The bar is pulled around the right/rounded side, and the bar slides through the stationary side. As the bar gets pulled around the round part, it takes the shape of the rounded shape. The amount that the die rotates effectively determines how much the bar is bent. If it rotates 20°, the bar has (theoretically) been bent 20°.



Since the whole cage is designed in the computer, it knows where exactly each bend needs to be, and how much to bend it. Here, I line up a horizontal and vertical Sharpie mark on the tube, to the indent on the die. The number is, of course, how much to bend the bar. I enter the number into the keypad on the screen of this machine, and it bends the bar. It's not fool-proof, but it works.

[82eye]

love anything welding, and sweet lady plasma cuts.
will never have your skills but i love seeing the art.

[Chilezen]

Ever since I've played with Lego as a kid, I've loved putting together cool shit. I went to college for art, automotive, and welding, and those skills have gotten me into this industry for almost 10 years. From basic tools to now computer-assisted designs, these are a few of the many cages I've built. And since I'm an E30 guy, I'm happy to share that I finally had one in the shop to build a cage. Here's how it went.




This is our plasma table. I first design and measure the crap out of what I want to make, sometimes using paper/cardstock templates, and other times using 3D scans of the car. I take the flat outlines and send them to be cut out here.



The shapes with the little indents are markers I've added to designate where a bend will be.



Since this particular "box" needs to be bent to more than 90°, I use a press and a special die to achieve the result I need. There's nothing accurate about this procedure; I have to guess and check and bend some more until it's the right shape I need.



The plates that were cut out are going to become boxes, or otherwise known as plinths-- they are what the cage will sit on in the car. They also act as supports that can be removed during the installation process, which is necessary to "drop" the cage (off the boxes) in order to gain access to the topsides of the cage. These top areas are unreachable until the cage is dropped/lowered off the boxes. Once the cage is off the boxes, I can weld the top sides of the cage/tubes. And then, lift the cage back up and weld the boxes in place. Anyway this^ pic is of me welding the plates together to create one of the boxes.